UEFA REVERSE EDUARDO BAN DECISION

Uefa has decided to overturn the two match ban imposed on Eduardo for diving.

The Arsenal striker was originally punished after he was found guilty of deceiving the referee when winning a penalty during Arsenal’s Champions League qualifier against Celtic at the Emirates stadium.

But European football’s governing body has now accepted an appeal by the London club which means Eduardo is now free to play in their opening two CL Group ties.

Speaking on the Arsenal web site, Eduardo said:

I’m very pleased that we have finally arrived at the truth.

All we needed to do was to prove what happened and we have managed to do that. This decision makes me feel a lot better.

I just want to say that I am a fair player. To score goals you must take your opportunities and I’m not the type of player who needs to be dishonest to score goals.

Arsenal also welcomed Uefa’s decision having earlier claimed that they were being victimised. An official club statement read:

We were able to show there was contact between the keeper and Eduardo and that the decision should be annulled.

We fully support the drive for fair play in football and believe it is important that Uefa provides clear and comprehensive standards that will be consistently enforced going forward.